KENDALL HOLT W12 (split) DEMETRIUS HOPKINS

Kendall Holt came out and fought like a winner against Demetrius Hopkins and his greater intensity carried him to a split but well-earned victory in their junior welter title fight on the special edition of ShoBox on Saturday.

Holt was the more aggressive and the harder puncher but Hopkins had his moments when he got his jab working or committed himself to throwing punches.

Too often, though, Hopkins was bicycling around the ring and looking to avoid contact. He had a great chance of taking Holt’s WBO title but, in his biggest fight, he didn’t show the necessary grit and determination to seize the opportunity.

Holt was always the one who looked as if he wanted to fight, and his body punches seemed to be affecting the long and lanky Hopkins.

When Holt rocked his man with a left hook in the seventh round I thought that the fight was essentially over, but Hopkins came back quite well in the later rounds and I thought he steadied Holt a few times with right hands to narrow the gap. Unfortunately for Hopkins, though, he gave away too many rounds.

Judges Alan Rubenstein and Luis Rivera had it wide in favour of Holt, 116-112 and 117-111 respectively, while judge Julie Lederman saw Hopkins winning, 115-113. There were some close rounds but, as was the case in the heavyweight fight between James Toney and Fres Oquendo on Versus earlier in the evening, the man who looked as if he wanted to fight found favour on the scorecards.

Hopkins, 28, came in at short notice and although he had been due to box in a supporting bout he had to lose five pounds that he didn’t think he’d have to lose. Holt, meanwhile, was known to be upset by the legal issues facing his friend and manager, Henry Cortes, who was being held in jail on a drug-dealing charge. Commentator Steve Farhood mentioned that Holt had been “tight” in the days leading up to the fight, but the champ from Paterson, NJ, looked relaxed in his dressing room and he seemed to unnerve Hopkins a bit with his “The talking’s over now, baby,” comment as the referee gave them their final instructions.

It looked to me as if Hopkins had the ability to make a stiff challenge but I had the impression that he was somewhat intimidated by Holt in the early rounds, and as the bout headed into the late rounds he needed a stoppage to win, and given his cautious style and lack of serious punching power, that was never likely to happen. Hopkins swept the last four rounds on judge Lederman's card and won three of the last four rounds on judge Rubenstein's card, but he started fighting in earnest far too late.

Holt’s win sets up a unification title bout with Timothy Bradley, which will be televised on Showtime early in the new year, one of several interesting matches in the pipeline as we start looking ahead to 2009.